Zak Brown the petrolhead who turned McLaren into Formula 1’s benchmark again

But since then, the 54-year-old American has turned out and delivered on his promises, on his vision for the team, and let’s go straight out there and say this: Brown would be making Bruce McLaren very proud.

I know a lot about McLaren, the driver, the engineer. I know that Kiwi’s history, and he was a racer through and through. He wanted to race in every series. He wanted to race in Formula 1, Formula 2, Can-Am, Sports Cars, IndyCar, you name it. Bruce liked to compete across the international motorsport landscape with his iconic orange liveried cars, half a century ago.

At first, when he arrived to take up the boss's office at Woking, I felt that Brown was led down a rabbit hole with his romancing of Fernando Alonso. I get it. The Spaniard is a legend, but I do feel that at one point, it seemed too much was being hinged on him for that McLaren project.

Fortunately, time moved on as did Alonso at the end of a torrid 2018. But once he was out the way, Brown put his vision into place, as a racing driver and probably the guy with the most racing in his blood in the entire F1 paddock, he has since shrewdly built an impressive team.

Andrea Stella was a fantastic addition to the project. Lando Norris was hired as a young gun full of promise who delivered the 2025 F1 world title to the team. Add to that the audacious capture of Oscar Piastri from the Alpine quagmire to turn the Aussie into a fully fledged future F1 world champion in waiting.

And now Zak’s scooped Red Bull's Gianpiero Lambiase to be part of what’s going to be an immense squad, which already has an amazing foundation. As a long-time McLaren fan, I am happy.

Brown took over a team on its knees, turned a massive ship around and delivered two F1 Constructors’ World Championships, a Drivers’ World Championship, while setting the foundation for an impressive empire of racing that not only includes IndyCar, but will include WEC in the future.

As I wrote before, Bruce McLaren would be very proud of what Zak Brown has done with his racing team, perhaps more so than what Ron Dennis delivered during his heyday at the helm.

With that in mind, we did a deep dive into the career of one of the most influential men in Formula 1 at the moment, who is deservedly living the dream despite an unconventional path to the top.

Zak Brown has become one of the most influential figures in Formula 1 after leading McLaren back to the top of the sport, delivering Constructors’ Championship titles in 2024 and 2025 and restoring the team’s status as a front-running force for the first time in more than two decades.

Brown, who joined McLaren in late 2016 before becoming CEO of McLaren Racing in 2018, has overseen a complete structural, cultural, and commercial transformation of a team that, at the time of his arrival, was fragmented, underperforming, and struggling to compete both on track and off it.

Brown’s route to power in Formula 1 is unconventional. Born in Los Angeles, his entry into motorsport came as a fan before it became an obsession, triggered by attending the 1981 Long Beach Grand Prix. As a teenager, he appeared on Wheel of Fortune and used his winnings to fund his first kart, beginning a competitive karting career that produced 22 wins and three championships between 1986 and 1990.

As a race driver, Brown progressed through Formula Ford, Formula Opel Lotus, British Formula 3, Toyota Atlantic, and Indy Lights, while also competing in endurance racing with notable results at Daytona and Sebring.

Despite a serious and committed racing career, Brown recognised early that he would not reach Formula 1 as a driver, a decision that forced a pivot that would ultimately define his career.

In 1995, Brown founded Just Marketing International, a business that would grow into the largest motorsport marketing agency in the world. Through JMI, Brown built deep connections across Formula 1, NASCAR, and IndyCar, structuring major sponsorship deals and generating more than $1 billion in commercial value.

This period embedded him within the sport’s commercial core, giving him a detailed understanding of how teams are funded, how sponsors operate, and where real influence sits within the paddock. By the time JMI was sold in 2013, Brown had already become one of the most connected and strategically aware figures in global motorsport.

Alongside his commercial rise, Brown maintained a direct link to racing through United Autosports, which he co founded in 2009 with Richard Dean. The team developed into a major endurance racing operation, winning at Le Mans and Daytona and competing across multiple international series.

Brown’s continued involvement as a racer in historic events reinforced his credibility within the sport, ensuring that his leadership perspective remained grounded in the realities of competition rather than purely commercial considerations.

Brown’s move to McLaren in 2016 came at a critical moment. The team was coming off one of the weakest periods in its modern history, with poor results, internal instability, and a failing engine partnership. Rather than attempting to intervene technically, Brown focused on rebuilding the organisation itself.

His initial priority was commercial stability, securing sponsorship and restoring financial strength, before moving on to restructure leadership across key departments. The most decisive move came in 2022 with the promotion of Andrea Stella to team principal, establishing a clear division between technical leadership and executive direction.

Central to Brown’s approach was a cultural reset. He implemented a no-blame environment designed to encourage accountability while retaining talent in a highly competitive industry. This shift, combined with targeted recruitment and investment in infrastructure, created the foundation for McLaren’s competitive resurgence.

By 2023, the team had reestablished itself as a consistent frontrunner. In 2024, it secured its first Formula Constructors’ Championship since 1998, and in 2025 successfully defended the title with drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri forming one of the strongest pairings on the grid.

Beyond results, Brown has played an increasingly visible role in shaping Formula 1’s direction. He has been a vocal advocate for financial regulation, including the budget cap, as well as broader issues such as sustainability and fan engagement.

His influence reflects a broader shift in the sport, where leadership is no longer defined solely by technical expertise but by the ability to manage complex organisations operating at the intersection of sport, business, and global entertainment.

Under Brown, McLaren has also expanded its footprint beyond Formula 1, building a multi-series racing operation that includes IndyCar and a planned return to endurance racing at the highest level. This reflects a long-term strategy focused on establishing McLaren as a global racing brand rather than a single team.

Brown’s continued involvement in historic racing and his extensive collection of significant race cars further underline his deep connection to the sport’s heritage, balancing commercial ambition with a clear appreciation of its history.

Brown’s career ultimately represents a shift in what it means to lead in Formula 1. He did not succeed through traditional pathways, but by understanding the sport from multiple angles and building influence where others overlooked it.

From funding his first kart through a television game show to leading a championship-winning team, his trajectory is defined by strategic reinvention. In doing so, Brown has not only rebuilt McLaren to winning force, against the odds, but also established himself as one of the defining figures of the modern Formula 1 era. Bruce, in racing heaven, looks down with pride.